Adoptee hallyu: First look at 'aka Dan'

Before talking about Dan Matthews’ multipart documentaryaka Dan, I need to offer some context. The film, which received a fair amount of press largely due to its Kickstarter, appeared to come out of nowhere for most of the general public. aka Dan, though, is a part of something much larger: what I like to call the Korean adoptee hallyu—the growing wave of Korean culture’s influence and popularity in the rest of the world.

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Korea is “in” right now. However, before it became the Asian juggernaut exporter of one swoonworthy K-drama and K-pop song after another, it was one of the biggest exporters of something else: kids. It’s estimated that well over 200,000 Korean children were sent to Western nations for adoption after the Korean War. The practice was so prevalent at one point that it attracted journalists, especially during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. The attention wasn’t welcome:

“Journalists like Bryant Gumbel of NBC commented that Korea’s primary export commodity was its babies, and articles like ‘Babies for Export’ (New York Times) and ‘Babies for Sale: South Koreans Make Them, Americans Buy Them’ (The Progressive), embarrassed the South Korean government.”

Oh, snap!

“Fortunately” for the Korean government, the country’s former number-one goods for sale, i.e., Korean adoptees, are in the midst of their own hallyu, which has been slowly emerging. Popular culture here in the U.S. offers plenty of recent examples of Korean adoptees doing good: Kristin Kish and Danny Bowien, celebrity chefs and TV personalities; actors Jenna Ushkowitz of Glee and Christopher Larkin of The 100; Marissa Webb, Banana Republic’s creative director and executive vice president of design; Aubrey Anderson Emmons of Modern Family and Daniel Henney, offspring of Korean adoptees; and Rachel Rostad, the young college student who became an Internet sensation when she dared to challenge J.K. Rowling.

Korean adoptee hallyu has produced notable products. Here in Minnesota, where I live (Yeah, youbetcha!), Jane Jeong Trenka wrote the critically acclaimed The Language of Blood. She followed up on her efforts by coediting with Julie Chinyere Oparah and Sun Yung Shin the then-controversial Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, featuring the words of a number of Minnesotans.

Taking cues from renown Chinese photographer Wing Young Huie, Kim Jackson and Heewon Lee published the first adoptee photography book, HERE: A Visual History of Adopted Koreans in Minnesota. Individuals like Katie Hae Leo, Sun Mee Chomet, Eric Sharp, Sara Ochs, and Kurt Kwan have contributed to the vibrant Minnesota theater scene as actors and playwrights, and produced compelling plays: Four Destinies, How to be a Korean Woman, and Middle Brother, to name a few. Important and influential adoption research, helmed by Korean adoptees like Kim Park Nelson, Oh Myo Kim, JaeRan Kim, Kelly Condit-Shrestha, and Elizabeth Raleigh, is coming out of the state.

Korean adoptee hallyu has produced a number of award-winning films, too. Deann Borshay Liem’s First Person Plural and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee are benchmarks for adoptees, Korean or otherwise, and individuals interested in adoption, migration, immigration, and the search for identity. Tammy Chu’s powerful Resilience is bold in that its central characters are a single Korean mother who placed her child for international adoption, and her now-grown son who reconnects with her. Jung Henin’s Approved for Adoption, which took years to make, is a gem of animated film.

These filmmakers, along with a number of others, have paved the way for younger filmmakers: John Sanvidge (Finding Seoul), Samantha Futerman (Twinsters), Zeke Anders (American Seoul), and, of course, Dan Matthews of aka Dan.

Episode 1 of aka Dan

Episode one 1 Dan Matthews’ aka Dan is a bit choppy. Overall, though, it’s a nice setup for a film that will resonate with individuals within and outside of the adoption community.

aka Dan opens with the airport trope: A thoughtful-looking Dan gets dropped off at LAX by his adoptive mother in route to Korea. It’s a scene with which many Korean adoptees can identify, and certainly a scene familiar to anyone who has taken an important trip. Then the film quickly flashes back to the moment when Dan read an email from his Korean adoption agency:

“Dear Dan Matthews,

I’m writing to share the information about your birth family. You may also find your brother … is actually your twin brother.”

What?!

Finding out about his twin brother is one of the many moments in episode 1 that identify Dan’s story as being unique. Although there are Korean adoptee twins who were placed into adoptive homes together and individually (see Liem Borshay’s upcoming Geographies of Kinship), like the general population, the number of Korean adoptees who are not twins far outweighs the number of twins.

As the episode continues, we discover that Dan’s story is remarkable for other reasons as well. Unlike most Korean adoptees, Dan’s search for his Korean family doesn’t take long at all. Flashing back yet again, we see Dan sending information to and filling out paperwork for his Korean adoption agency. After only a few weeks, Dan receives a response with positive results, gets pictures of his family sent to him, and receives letters/emails from his family asking to meet him while he’s traveling to Korea for the IKAA Gathering, the largest get-together for Korean adoptees in the world. Dan’s search experience is definitely not the norm. As he says:

“Every single time that time I’ve talked to anybody about this, it’s been very, like, negative. Very, like, this probably isn’t going to happen.”

Most adoptees who seek out their roots end up finding nothing, or labor through a lengthy, expensive, and often emotionally draining process.

That said, Dan’s experiences are also reflective of the lives of other Korean adoptees. In the episode, you hear from his adoptive mother. Like many adoptive parents, she and Dan’s adoptive father turned to adoption after struggling with infertility. Also, like many adoptive families, the Matthews family is religious; there’s a compelling shot of them praying before dinner.

His adoptive mother displays a lot of emotions while talking with Dan about his trip to Korea, something viewers of Korean adoptee films have come to expect. You also hear Dan talking about his struggles during his teen years and when he found his path through writing and hip-hop. Plus, he openly discusses his anxieties about meeting his Korean family, traveling to Korea, and being surrounded by huge numbers of Korean adoptees.

Episode 1 closes with Dan reading a letter from his Korean mother and his reply back to her, while you see him landing in Incheon International Airport and traveling into the city. The images of the Han River, cityscape, Seoul landmarks, and Dan sitting on a bus while looking out the window are effective and extremely emotive. They leave you wanting more—which is, of course, the point.

Expression Of JoyThe Brady Bunch: Groovy! The Bradys: Ritual hugging Married…With Children: ”Oh, great.” Thirtysomething: ”Of course I’m happy for you. Really. But what about me? Why does it always have to be about you? The Flintstones: ”Yabba-dabba doo

Expression Of Rage

The Brady Bunch: ”Hmmm…” The Bradys: ”If you back away from something you really want, then you’re a quitter!” (the angriest any Brady has ever been) Married…With Children: ”Aaagh, God, take me from this miserable life!” Thirtysomething: ”I’m not angry, OK?” The Flintstones: ”Willllmaaaa!”

Typical ProblemThe Brady Bunch: Marcia and her rival both want to be the prom queen. The Bradys: Bobby gets paralyzed. Married…With Children: Al doesn’t buy his family Christmas presents. Thirtysomething: Nancy gets cancer. The Flintstones: Fred and Barney are staying out too late.

Typical SolutionThe Brady Bunch: The prom committee decides to have two queens. The Bradys: Bobby gets married. Married…With Children: They hate him. Thirtysomething: If only we knew… The Flintstones: Wilma and Betty decide to follow them.

Attitude Toward SexThe Brady Bunch: Never heard of it The Bradys: Omigod — even Cindy does it! Married…With Children: Peg: Yes. Al: No. Thirtysomething: They didn’t get all those kids by accident. The Flintstones: Prehistoric

How Spouses FightThe Brady Bunch: They don’t. The Bradys: Infrequently, but it happens Married…With Children: Tooth and nail Thirtysomething: They stop talking The Flintstones: Fred and Barney go bowling while Wilma and Betty max out their charge cards.

How Kids Get Into TroubleThe Brady Bunch: Greg takes a puff of a cigarette. The Bradys: Carol’s grandson steals her business cards and sticks them in the spokes of Bobby’s wheelchair. Married…With Children: By committing felonies Thirtysomething: Ethan plays with a forbidden toy rocket. The Flintstones: They don’t.

How They’re Punished

The Brady Bunch: ”It’s not what you did, honey — it’s that you couldn’t come to us.” The Bradys ”Next time, ask.” Married…With Children: By the authorities Thirtysomething: It blows up in his face. The Flintstones: They’re not.

What Family Does For FunThe Brady Bunch: Takes special three-part vacations to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon The Bradys: Has flashbacks Married…With Children: Exchanges insults Thirtysomething: Talks The Flintstones: Attends showings of The Monster at the Bedrock Drive-In

Unsolved MysteriesThe Brady Bunch: How exactly did Carol’s first husband and Mike’s first wife die? The Bradys: What’s with Marcia’s new face and Bobby’s blonde hair Married…With Children: What kind of hair spray does Peg use? Thirtysomething: Why did Nancy take Elliot back? What do Gary and Susanna see in each other? The Flintstones: How does Barney’s shirt stay on if he has no shoulders? Where do Fred and Wilma plug in their TV?

Worst BehaviorThe Brady Bunch: The Brady children once made Alice feel under-appreciated.

Best Reason To WatchThe Brady Bunch: This is what life should be. The Bradys: They’re all grown-ups now! Married…With Children: Terry Rakolta hates it. Thirtysomething (Tie) This is your life. This isn’t your life. The Flintstones: This is what life might have been.

Best Reason Not To WatchThe Brady Bunch: Blurred vision from rerun overdoses. The Bradys: You’re all grown-ups now. Married…With Children: She has a point. Thirtysomething: After a while, you think it’s real. The Flintstones: The Simpsons